'An example of this type of transformation is converting environmentally harmful carbon dioxide molecules into carbon-neutral plastics, building materials and fuel. Carbon dioxide, or CO2, is the product of combustion of gasoline or coal.

'"The conversion of molecules into new forms, including 'recycling' carbon, is a broad challenge in chemistry," said Tait, associate professor in the IU Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Chemistry, who is principal investigator on the project. "Our work will advance the field by applying methods pioneered at IU toward the development of reactions not yet attainable outside highly controlled laboratory environments."

'The co-investigator on the project is Caulton, an IU Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and world-renewed expert in metal-organic chemistry, which employs organic materials to isolate and organize single metal atoms into powerful, complex structures, roughly analogous to enzymes, the molecules of life.'